The Forgotten Heroes
by Sonixawesome
Summary: When last we saw Rai the Cubone, he was leaving the safety of Viridian Forest after having been abandoned by his cruel Trainer, Matsumi. He now enters the strange world of Pewter City, beginning his search for abandoned and lost Pokémon. He finds his first new companion very quickly, and begins to feel as if his task is not so difficult. But never forget what some humans will do...
1. Chapter 1

The Forgotten Heroes

Chapter 1

The Lost Pokémon

Vendetta searched the area. She was certain that Rin had been here- hadn't she? Ever since the Banette had been separated from her trainer on Mount Silver, she'd wandered Kanto aimlessly in hopes of finding her. She now found herself in Pewter City. She'd been here once before with Rin to defeat the Leader, Brock.

"Oh, Rin… Where are you?" She said to herself forlornly.

The red ears poked up from the trash. A small spark went between them, and an ivory head revealed itself. Katy the Plusle yawned, pulling herself up out of the dumpster in the Pewter city alley. She picked up the half eaten slice of pizza, gulping it down with her nose pinched tightly. "Ugh… Time for another night of fun in Pewter city…"

"What a thrill!" The Eevee shouted. After the strange world of the PC box, Choco the Eevee was happy to have this time outside. She turned around.

"Ah, that's about enough of freedom. HEY!" She yelled, calling for her trainer. No one replied.

"Hey, I'm ready to come ba-ack!" She shouted. Silence was her only answer. Her ears lowered.

"H-hello? A-anyone?" She whispered. "I'm ready to come back!" After waiting for an answer that didn't come, she skulked away, frowning. "What have I done…?"

Lily panted, running as fast as she could. Her small Zorua legs didn't get her very far, but they had to do. "Mima…" She sobbed.

Rai smiled. The full moon shone down upon him, as if keeping its full attention directed towards the Cubone.

"That's right, moon. Watch me, 'cause I'm about to do something really awesome!" He walked into the city, looking straight ahead.

"Now where am I going to find abandoned Pokémon?" He mused.

Footsteps approached rapidly to his right, and he turned to the sound. There was a small black Pokémon with red markings running towards him. Its eyes seemed to be closed, and it sounded as if it were crying.

"Ah!" Rai yelled, jumping up to avoid the Pokémon. He didn't get out of the way in time, and found himself rolling in the air after the Pokémon ran into his feet. He stood back up, turning to the Pokémon.

"Hey, are you alright? Where are you running to?" He shouted.

The Pokémon rose to its feet, and shook itself. It tried to start running again, but Rai caught it by the small tail.

"Hey! What's going on?" Rai said.

"I have to get away! My trainer, he… he… He killed my mima, and he wants to do the same to me! I have to get away from here!" The small Pokémon sobbed.

"What's your name?" Rai asked, trying to keep the Pokémon calm.

The Pokémon looked at him strangely, "My name? It's Lily, but… What are you?"

Rai laughed, "I could ask you the same thing, Lily. I'm Rai, a Cubone. I'm native to this region. Where are you from?"

Lily looked around, "Could we talk elsewhere? I think that if Lokesh- that's my trainer- knew where I was, he'd have found me by now, but I still feel on edge out in the open."

Rai smiled, "That's fine. We can go wherever you would feel comfortable talking to me."

Lily looked around, nodding towards an alley. She walked towards it, and then smiled back at Rai. She turned the corner swiftly, giggling.

Rai looked into the alley, "Lily? What are you doing?" Rai looked side to side, but saw no one there.

Something tapped his shoulder, and he turned around. There was another Cubone there that looked exactly like him, going so far as to hold its bone the same way.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Who are you?" It asked in return, mimicking his exact voice.

"What in the…?"

"What in the…?" It imitated.

"Whoever you are, stop mocking me right now!" Rai said.

"Whoever you are, stop mocking me right now!" It copied his tone perfectly.

He pointed his bone at the copy, which imitated the motion in turn.

"This isn't funny!" Rai growled.

"Oh, but it is!" The doppelganger giggled. It wasn't using Rai's voice any longer, but instead spoke with a tone resembling…

"Lily?" Rai whispered.

The Cubone nodded, and its face was suddenly replaced by Lily's.

"That's my Illusion! I can make you think that I'm any other Pokémon, when I'm really still just me! It's fun to trick people with it." Lily grinned ear to ear.

"You went from scared to happy really fast." Rai commented.

"Oh, I'm still scared. I just like to cover that part of me up. You don't often see an upset Zorua, you know?" Lily replied.

Rai smiled, "So that's what you are? A Zorua?"

Lily nodded.

"Hey, I'm searching for abandoned Pokémon. Want to come with me? We'll be safer together."

Lily smiled, "Sure! For a weird dude wearing a skull for a hat, you're alright, Rai the Cubone."

Rai laughed, "And for a bizarre chick who changes her shape, you aren't half bad either."

"Confirmed, rare Pokémon in sights. Pokémon identified as a Zorua, a native species of the Unova region." The black clad figure spoke into a communication unit on her shoulder. "Permission to capture?"

"Permission granted, Grunt." A low voice replied.

"Sir, the Pokémon is in the company of a Cubone." The Grunt stated.

"Dispose of it, we don't need it."

"Understood, sir. Rocket Grunt out." The Grunt affirmed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Attack!

Katy looked down from atop the building at the two Pokémon. "Huh, I've never seen them in Pewter before." She looked across the rooftops to the strange man.

"I've never seen him in Pewter either…" She said under her breath.

She jumped down between the two Pokémon, who jumped in surprise.

The one wearing a skull approached her, "Who are you? You're not from Kanto, are you? How'd you end up here?"

"Name's Katy. I'm from Hoenn, but my trainer left me here when he caught a Pikachu. I've been ruling the shadowy streets of Pewter for about a year now, and I can tell when someone's new to the city. Do you guys know there's someone staring at you from the rooftops?" Katy asked.

The skull-wearer looked up, and recoiled, "Ah!" He shouted, pushing the black-and-red Pokémon and Katy back. A net enveloped him.

"What's going on?" The black-and-red Pokémon began to panic.

"It's a member of Team Rocket! They kill and steal Pokémon! Run!" The skull-wearer ordered.

Katy tried to pull the Pokémon away, but she refused, "We can't just leave him here! They'll kill him!"

"But if we don't leave he'll kill us! You just met him five seconds ago, let's just leave!" Katy pulled harder, but the Pokémon gripped the earth tightly.

"Lily, just go!" The skull-wearer urged.

The Pokémon- Lily presumably, shook her head, crying hard, "No! I don't want another person to die because of me! I won't let it happen!" She sobbed.

The skull-wearer was tugged back as a machine whirred loudly.

"RAI!" Lily shouted. She nimbly jumped off of a dumpster and between the buildings, landing daintily atop the roof where the strange man stood.

"DON'T YOU DARE HURT HIM!" She screamed, dark power emanating from her body.

Vendetta turned, hearing the scream. It was a shot in the dark, but she had to go for it.

"Rin!" She shouted.

Choco lifted her ears. She wasn't certain, but she felt as though she had to check for what it was. Even if it wasn't her trainer, it was a living being she could speak to who might be able to take care of her. Choco just didn't want to be alone. She sprinted off towards the sound.

Rai struggled, trying to escape the bonds, "Let me out of here!" He grunted.

"Darn!" The human exclaimed, "I'd been hoping to get the Zorua! But you didn't let that happen, did you?" The person shook the net ferociously, "Little beast!"

Rai stopped struggling, getting control. He focused, as he had before. He thought of the spark within, gaining control of it. He intensified it, gathering as much electrical energy as possible. Rai released his energy, focusing all his power on the ropes. The attack hit the ropes, but they seemed to be made of a rubbery material, and the Thunderbolt was useless.

The man recoiled with surprise. He then looked to his shoulder, where there was a communicator. "Ariana! I've captured the Cubone, and it's proving to be more interesting than we'd expected. I suggest immediate capture and study."

A female voice replied, "How so?"

"It's just used Thunderbolt, ma'am." The man answered.

After a short pause, and then some inaudible chatter, the female voice came back on, "Understood, Grunt. I'm on the way for the pick-up."

Lily alit on the rooftop. Rai's eyes widened, "Lily? Why…"

"DON'T YOU DARE HURT HIM!" She shouted, "NIGHT DAZE!"

A dark power emanated from the small Pokémon, and shadowy tendrils moved on the man. Just before they reached him, they faded.

"Ah!" Lily shouted. A woman with red hair stood behind her, a stun gun in hand. An Abra sat at her side. It looked like it was malnourished, and had obvious scars from battle.

"I see you're having some trouble with these Pokémon. Nonetheless, you did well capturing these ones." The woman sighed.

"Ma'am! Something behind you!" The grunt shouted.

An ephemeral hand was on the woman's shoulder, and an evil face behind it. The woman turned, recoiling. The hand balled into a fist, slamming her in the chest.

"It's a Banette! What's it doing here?" She said.

The Banette faded into inky shadows, and then swiftly reformed behind the woman, sweeping her off her feet.

"Rin's not here, but I can't let this go on! You'll soon see why my trainer named me Vendetta!" The Banette exclaimed.

The Grunt dropped Rai and Lily into a cage, pulling them away.

"I don't think so!" A small brown creature appeared, knocking the cage from the Grunt's hand. Rai and Lily were released. Rai tried to stand up to rejoin the fight, but Arianna grabbed him, placing a white rag to his face. Rai's vision blurred, and he lost consciousness.

Rai found himself in a strange, dark room. He looked about, and was slightly aware of what was going on outside. Lily had awakened, and she was fighting alongside the Banette to get Rai away from the red haired woman, who had sent out a Murkrow to battle them with. They were losing. The man had sent out three Golbat, and they were surrounding Katy and the brown Pokémon. Katy tried to use Thundershock, but the Pokémon just evaded before she made contact.

"No…" Rai gasped. "I can't let this happen!"

"Do you think they're strong enough?" A voice asked. It was extremely familiar, yet he hadn't heard it in what seemed like an eternity.

He turned to where it had come from, "Mother?"

His mother smiled, "Yes, Rai, it's me. Well… Sort of."

"Sort of?" Rai asked.

"I am not actually… Well, it's hard to explain, something of a confusing concept. In any event, as your mother, I am always at your side. When a Marowak has a child, a piece of her is stored within that Cubone. The bond between mother and child is eternal, Rai, and as such, no matter where you are, I will always be there to help, to offer you guidance when you are lost, and to console you when you are upset. I am not truly your mother, but I am the part of her that lives within you. Now, do you think you are strong enough to battle them?" She asked.

"Not now. Whatever that woman did to me, I can't control myself anymore. It's almost as if she removed me from my body." Rai answered.

Rai's mother- or the part of his mother- thought for a second. "Perhaps you have lost control of this body. But when one thing ceases to function, do you know what you can do?"

"What? How can I regain control?" Rai asked.

"This body will take hours to recover. You don't have hours. So what I suggest is that you get a new body." She smiled.

"But mama, you're suggesting that I…" Rai trailed off. "But…"

Rai had known it since he was young. He had been deemed biologically incapable of evolution. Something about the strength of his body, he'd been told. It wasn't strong enough to sustain the drastic change, and to attempt it would likely cause severe damage.

"In any event, I can't just up and evolve, you know?" Rai said.

"Yes you can, Rai. Focus. Your brain has the power to do great things. You managed to learn Thunderbolt just through the power of your brain. If you so wish, you can order your brain to transform your body. With simply the mental strength, you can evolve." She urged.

Rai thought for a second, then nodded, "I'll try."

"You'll succeed."

Lily slid across the ground from the attack of the Murkro. She opened her eyes slightly, panting. The Banette was fighting hard, but the Dark type bird was proving too much.

Rai began to glow faintly in the woman's hands, and Lily's eyes widened. "What?"

Vendetta used confuse ray, but the Murkrow evaded the boggling light. It used Night Slash, squarely hitting Vendetta center chest. She didn't know how much more she could take of this. Her Ghost moves weren't powerful enough to stop the dark bird.

A white light emerged from the Pokemon in the woman's hands, and it grew. The woman dropped it, exclaiming.

"It's evolving!"

The Pokémon emerged from the light. It was taller, and its bone was now fully extended rather than tapered off at the end. Its skull covered more of its head, and a striped pattern had appeared on its chest rather than the old patch of white.

"My name is Rai the Marowak. Think you can handle me?" He said.

The Murkrow charged at him, coming in for the attack. Once it got close, though, Rai used Thunderbolt, shocking it. The bird fell to the ground.

"Murkrow! Grah, you USELESS little Pokémon!" The woman exclaimed. She recalled the Murkrow, instead sending out an Arbok. It went to attack Lily, but was stopped short. It couldn't move.

"What the?" The woman exclaimed.

Banette looked at the Abra, whose body had begun to shine blue. Arbok was thrown to the earth, violently.

The Pokémon teleported beside Rai.

"You're going to help us?" Rai asked. The Abra nodded.

_My name is Crystal. I have been under the control of Team Rocket for longer than I can remember. It's about time someone took a stand against them._

Rai smiled, "Then let's take a stand, shall we?"

_We shall._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Stand

A helicopter approached from far in the distance. Rai turned to Crystal, "Can you take it down?"

The Abra shook her head, _I want to stop Team Rocket, but I don't want to kill them. I _

_don't want to sink to their level._

Rai nodded, "I understand. Everyone! Form up!" He ordered. They formed a ring

together, holding off anyone that would attempt to come to them.

Men and women in black suits came down from the helicopter on ropes, swiftly surrounding the group of Pokémon.

"Special attacks first. When they come in closer, start using your physical attacks." Rai whispered.

The others nodded. Rai felt a burst of energy, and looked at the others. Kate smiled, "That's my Helping Hand! I haven't done much with it until now, but I figured it would be useful!"

Rai held up his thumb, "Good idea, Katy! Special attacks, now!" Rai ordered. Rai leveled his bone, taking aim at the Pokémon that a grunt had sent out in front of him. It was a Golbat.

"Wrong choice!" He smirked. He locked his aim, firing a Thunderbolt attack.

Lily used Night Daze, hitting the Raticate in front of her. Vendetta used Shadow ball, striking down a Koffing. Crystal used Hidden Power, instantly knocking out a group of Poison Pokémon.

"Madam Ariana! We need assistance!" One of the black-suited men said, seemingly starting to panic.

The red-haired woman- whose name was apparently Ariana- directed her Arbok, who had managed to survive the attack, to use Poison Sting on the group. Choco tilted her head, smiling, "I don't think so!" A miraculous barrier formed, surrounding all five of the Pokémon. Ariana's attack was stopped short.

Rai smiled, turning to Choco, "Good job!"

Choco smiled, "I'll do all I can to help you all! I'm not the strongest Pokémon of us all, but I'm no weakling either!"

Katy turned to the group, "Be prepared! I've got a trick up my sleeve!" Katy used Discharge, hitting all of the Rockets' Pokémon at once. Rai used his Lightning rod ability to stop the attack from striking any of the Pokémon on his side by absorbing it into him. He smiled, feeling the electricity rushing through him.

He lifted his bone, exclaiming, "THUNDER!"

Powerful bolts of lightning fell from the sky, taking down all of the opposing Pokémon.

Rai turned to Crystal, "Alright! Can you take us all out of here?"

Crystal nodded, _Everyone! Place your hands on me!_

The group followed the order, and the world disappeared. When everything was reformed from the chaos that proceeded, the group was just outside of Pewter city. Rai stood, smiling at all of the Pokémon that stood in front of him.

"Great job, everyone!"

They all smiled back, and Lily approached him. "Can you come over here and talk to me?"

Rai nodded, following her away, "What is it?" He asked once they stood away from the group.

She smacked him upside the head, making his skull vibrate. Rai fell to the ground, grasping the helmet.

"What was that for?" Rai shouted.

Lily growled, "What was with you back there? Telling me to go on without you like some freakin' hero or something! I'll tell you one thing, Rai the Cubone-"

"I'm a Marowak now…" Rai said.

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE A FLYING PURPLE MONKEY THAT BARFS RAINBOWS, DON'T DO THAT AGAIN!" Lily screamed.

Rai grasped his helmet again, steadying the vibrating mass of bone. "Agh, okay, I've got it!"

Lily smiled, "Good boy. No more of this self-sacrifice crap, got it?" She looked around, "Now, where did that Pokémon bring us to?"

Rai turned away, collecting his bearings. To the east was Pewter, to the west was a rocky wall, south was undoubtedly Viridian City, and to his north rose Mount Moon.

Rai smiled, "I know a place we can spend the night. I used to come here all the time with my old trainer before he left for Johto. I was in my ball most of the time, but the person there let me come out to stretch my legs every so often. I got an idea of where we were."

Vendetta looked up at the tall mountain, "Ugh… Mountains… Tell me we're not going in there, please."

Rai scratched the back of his helmet, "I'm afraid we're going to have to if we want to reach Cerulean, the next settlement."

Vendetta groaned, "If we do, I want you to do something for me."

Rai tilted his head, "Sure, Miss… Um, what was your name? I'm afraid I didn't get it just yet."

"Vendetta's the name. I just… If we go in that big hunk of rock, I want you guys to stay with me at all times. I don't want to get separated from you." She said.

She teared up a little, "See, when I was with my Trainer, we'd been on Mount Silver in Johto, searching for the powerful Trainer said to live up there. I was walking with him, and I thought I saw this huge Pokémon, it looked like some kind of fire bird. I was looking at it, and before I knew anything else, my Trainer was gone! I don't want the same thing to happen again."

Rai didn't know if he'd ever seen a Ghost Pokémon so upset. He patted her shoulder, "Hey, it's alright, Vendetta. We'll find your Trainer, no doubt!"

Choco smiled, "Yeah, Vendetta! We'll find 'em, and we'll find mine too. I'm sure that your Trainer's gonna be missing you." She tried to pat Vendetta's shoulder as well, but lost balance and fell through the ghost's body.

"Unf!" The Eevee squeaked, and regained her composure, shaking the dirt off of her face. She laughed, "Oops! Normal doesn't affect Ghost!"

Vendetta grinned, "Ha-ha! Thanks, little Eevee! I'm sure your Trainer misses you too."

Choco licked her paw absently, "I doubt it. I mean, he didn't even really train me. I was cooped up in the PC box for as long as I can remember. It was weird in there. The other Pokémon just sort of stood there. I could hardly move myself; it felt as though I was stuck in place. I struggled around, but the Pokémon next to me, this Rhydon, told me it was all no use. He said that we wouldn't move until our Trainer needed us. The ground seemed to be grass, but I couldn't really enjoy it because I was just sitting there. My legs started to hurt after a while of standing like that, so I tried to lie down. After a while, my legs fell asleep. It felt like forever until I finally got taken out, and then I was trying to enjoy myself moving around and ended up getting lost."

Choco curled up in a little ball, tears falling from her eyes, "I don't think that my Trainer misses me at all. He probably just grabbed up another Normal type my level and used it for whatever he was gonna use me for."

Rai looked down at the ground, allowing his bone to slide down until he held it like a staff. All of these stories about people… It seemed like Vendetta's trainer wasn't so bad, but it was still becoming hard to believe there were any truly good humans out there when all the ones he met were as bad as Matsumi or worse. Then there was what Lily had been talking about before the attack, that Lokesh guy she'd mentioned. And Team Rocket was never to be forgotten. Just looking at Crystal's many cuts and bruises would drive that fact home. So was there even such thing as a good human? Perhaps the very human he approached now would betray them all in a similar way.

Rai shook his head, "Alright, guys. That's enough storytelling. We should go to that rest spot I was talking about."

The group nodded, and they headed off.

A man smiled, looking down at all of the Pokémon as they walked away. "My little Lily, I've found you once again. You should have known not to run away from me."

He cackled, his evil eyes flickering with dark malice, "Look at all your little friends. I guess I'll have to punish them as well."

Lily turned, striking a defensive position as she faced the silhouette she'd seen in her peripheral vision. She growled, but whatever it had been was no longer there.

"Lily! What's wrong?" Katy asked.

Lily looked at the Plusle, and then back at the silhouette's former location. She shook her head, "It's nothing, Katy."

Katy narrowed her eyes, uncertain in the answer but not sure she could do anything else, "Alright, Lily. But if something was wrong, you'd tell us, right?"

Lily growled a bit. Who did this rat think she was? "Yeah, but I told you nothing's wrong!"

Katy recoiled, "Jeez, Lily. Calm down, 'kay?"

Lily shook her head. She felt strange, and that reaction was definitely not becoming of her, "Yeah, sorry Katy. I dunno what's up with me, I didn't mean that."

Katy gave the Zorua a sideways glance, "Okay, Lily…" She rushed off to catch up with Rai, and Lily followed suit.

She turned back to the shelf of rocks where she'd seen the shadow. Her heart sank into her stomach, dread filling her entire body. The demon that called itself a man stood there, grinning at her evilly.

"Lokesh…" She whispered. She turned to her friends, waiting until they were out of earshot.

She looked at Lokesh, growling, "If you even think about hurting my friends, I swear on my life, I'll…"

Lokesh shook his head slowly. He vanished off into the horizon, and Lily hesitantly turned around to catch up with her friends again.

**So, chapter three! I've started to realize that in nearly all of my stories, chapter three is where the real conflict begins to emerge… Funny factoid…**

**In any event, about the original RP. In it, Crystal was a Shiny Mew, who'd been given up by her trainer when he captured a Shiny Jirachi. She initially was something of a prankster, and had helped bring the group together by scaring them all into one place by turning herself invisible. I wanted to make Crystal a non-legendary (I didn't want the team to be full of Legends) and in the original RP, Ariana had an Abra that she was going to use to teleport away with Rai, but was stopped by Choco. I decided hey, make Crystal that Abra, and have her join the team! Bam, the birth of Crystal the Abra rather than Crystal the Shiny Mew. I felt kind of bad because I thought it would be disrespectful to the creator of the character, but I think it was for the best.**


End file.
